A transfer that is “pending” or has “failed” is almost never a problem with the domain itself. It is nearly always one of the situations below, and each has a fix. Find the message or symptom that matches yours. (The full how-to is in Transfer a domain to UKBox.)
Nothing has happened at your old provider
Ordering a transfer with us does not tell your old provider anything. For a .uk domain they must change the IPS tag to PDR-IN; for other endings they must give you the authorisation code, which you then give us. Until one of those has happened the transfer is simply waiting for a person to press a button — and the person is at the old provider, or is you. Check your ticket for what we are still waiting for.
.uk: “tag change requested” but still pending
The provider has not yet actually changed the tag — most do it in minutes, some (Names.co.uk, EuroDNS, SiteGround) take a day or two or need a paid request or a support ticket. Chase them, not us; ask them to confirm the tag now reads PDR-IN. If they refuse or stall, Nominet will change it for you directly at secure.nominet.org.uk for a small fee. Once the tag shows PDR-IN, we accept it the same working day and your client area catches up within a few hours.
“Domain is locked” / “clientTransferProhibited”
The registrar lock (transfer lock) is still on at the old provider. Switch it off in their control panel and tell us; we resubmit straight away. If the lock keeps coming back, the domain is probably in a 60-day lock (below).
“Invalid authorisation code” / “auth code incorrect”
Codes are case-sensitive and often expire or change when the domain is unlocked or edited. Request a fresh code from the old provider, copy it with no spaces at either end, and send it to us on the ticket. Please never put codes in a plain email.
“Transfer rejected” or “transfer cancelled”
Someone clicked decline (or the old provider declined automatically). The usual causes: the approval email went to an old address and was ignored past the deadline; the domain had privacy on so the email bounced; or the account holder at the old provider did not recognise the request. Make sure the registrant email is current, switch privacy off, and we start it again with a new code. If the old provider claims a “dispute” or “unpaid balance”, that is between you and them — clear it and we resubmit.
“Pending approval” for days
Normal for anything other than .uk. Once we submit, the old provider has five days to object; if nobody approves it earlier it completes automatically on day five. To finish it today, log in at the old provider and look for the transfer request to approve or accept, or click the approval link in the email they sent to the registrant address. GoDaddy and Squarespace quote 5–7 days; Squarespace up to 15.
“60-day lock” / “domain not eligible for transfer”
ICANN’s rules lock a domain for 60 days after it is first registered, after it last changed provider, and after the registrant’s name, organisation or email is changed. Nothing anyone can do speeds this up. Note the date the lock ends and tell us; we can host your website and email on the domain in the meantime, and transfer it later. When you next need to change contact details, ask the provider to opt you out of the 60-day lock at the same time — most can.
“Domain expired” / “redemption period”
A domain past its expiry date cannot transfer; one in the redemption period (typically 30–45 days after expiry) must be restored at the old provider first, often at a much higher price. Renew or restore it there, then transfer. Do not wait: after redemption the domain is released for anyone to register.
“Registrant email not verified” / privacy bouncing
The approval was sent to a masked or dead address. Switch off WHOIS privacy at the old provider, correct the contact email (and ask them to waive the 60-day lock that a contact change normally triggers), then we resubmit.
I renewed at the old provider and the year has vanished
If a renewal was made in the 45 days before the transfer completed, the registry can cancel that renewal and refund the old provider. Your domain still gained a year from the transfer itself, but the old provider is holding a refund that belongs to you — ask them for it, quoting the transfer date. This is why we ask you not to renew at the old provider unless expiry is within 30 days.
The transfer completed but my website or email stopped
A transfer moves the management of a domain, not its DNS, so this is rare — but a few providers (Wix, Squarespace and some “website builder” hosts) delete their DNS records the moment a domain leaves. Open a ticket with the domain name and what stopped; we recreate the records within the hour, and if you are moving the site and email to us anyway we bring them across at the same time.
Anything else, or if it has been more than two days since the tag changed or the code went in: reply on your ticket with the domain name and we will check the registry directly.
